College Board investigates alleged SAT cheating incident at Wilton High School

By Stephanie Kim

Updated 2:41 pm, Friday, May 12, 2017

WILTON — The College Board is currently investigating an alleged cheating incident at Wilton High School during a state administered SAT test in April, according to Jaslee Carayol, the Board’s associate director of media relations.

Principal Bob O’Donnell sent a letter to junior students and their parents last week, addressing rumors circulating the community about the alleged incident on April 5 and the possible cancellation of student scores.

“It is true that we are currently investigating one unconfirmed and isolated report of cheating on the test,” O’Donnell said in the May 5 letter. “I also want to inform you that there is no connection between this alleged cheating incident and your inability to access scores.”

O’Donnell said in the letter that The College Board reported a glitch in their computer system that prevented students from accessing their scores.

Last year, Wilton High School students averaged 604 on the English Languages Arts test and 596 on the math test, exceeding the state’s mean scores of 520 and 502, respectively.

The College Board has set 480 as a college-ready score in language arts and 530 in math. The top score on each section of the test is 800 points.

Since the 2015-16 school year, Connecticut has required all 11th graders in the state’s public schools to take the SAT in lieu of the 11th grade Smarter Balanced assessment. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said the change was made to address widespread concern and anxiety around testing.